Noah's POV

This plan smelled rotten. Like boiled eggs that had gone bad, but I knew that trying to reason with Syd when she was hell-bent on something was pointless. You know it's desperate times when Syd and Peter actually agree on something. Syd was standing in front of the zombie's glass cages. It was unnerving to see they paid her no mind. Their crimson gazes were fixated on me and Peter. He seemed calm while I wanted to run to the nearest exit while dragging a kicking and screaming Sydney with me.

"Okay, so you guys are set on the plan?" she asked.

"Yeah escape, trip the alarm and stay out of sight," Peter responded.

My mind started racing thinking of every possible way that this could go horribly wrong. I knew Biotech wouldn't let her live a peaceful life and I knew they would use any means to capture her.

"How are you going to break them out?" I asked, pointing a trembling finger towards the creatures that desperately wanted to eat me.

"I'll figure it out, but you guys need to get going. Take the door at the end of the hallway see where it takes you. After you pull the fire alarm you have half an hour to get out."

I nodded my head unable to form words, fear seemed to make it impossible for me to even be sarcastic. Syd came up to me and I was yet again stopped in my tracks. She had no idea what effect she had on me. Things were awkward between us now but that didn't mean I stopped caring about her. She always put other people before herself and she cared fiercely for others. That's what had drawn me closer to her in the beginning, but now she was disregarding her own safety.

"Here take this," she said placing the key card in my hands, "You guys will need it to get out."

I wanted to protest but the steel in her eyes made the words die before they even came out. She put her arms around my waist and I pulled her in for a long hug. I knew I wouldn't be able to crush her into me and sneak her out of this place but that didn't stop me from trying. 

Her smell enveloped me and I could swear I was trapped in a field of roses. I would never be able to smell roses without always being reminded of her. I held her tight for longer than necessary, afraid that this would be the last time I would be able to hold her like this. Peter cleared his throat and hesitantly, I let go.

"Okay the hall is clear, we should go now," Peter said.

"I'll be fine, okay, just be careful and get out of here," she said her voice never wavered.

I took a deep breath and followed Peter out the door. Staying close behind him, I felt my heart thundering in my chest. I have never been one for foolish bravery but somehow Syd made me want to be better for her. I can't remember the exact moment I fell for her and I don't think it happened fast. Every time she stood up for me or smiled at me, every time we laughed and joked around like kids, and the moments she saved my life. I fell in slow motion without even realizing it and now there was a chance that I would never find out where it would lead.

We reached the door and it didn't have a slot for a key-card, so we simply pushed it open. It was a plain staircase that went up a few flights, it seemed that Biotech had been keeping us in the basement.

Syd didn't know we were underground.

The urge to turn around and drag her out by her hair was surprisingly strong. Right next to the stairs there was an elevator with a slot for a passkey. Peter moved towards it and I grabbed his arm.

"You really want to use that, the stairs seem like a safer bet."

"Its also going to take much longer and we don't have time." he replied.

Shaking my head, I let go of his arm, "Its also a lot easier to get trapped in that thing if we're caught," I said and fought to keep my voice calm. It's safe to say Peter wasn't my favorite person in the world.

Peter sighed, begrudgingly he started climbing the stairs. I followed behind him. At every floor, there was a door. At one point we would have to choose one and pray to god that there was no one in. We reached the fifth floor, or at least that's what I assumed by my count. I pressed my ear to the door while holding my breath, I strained to hear anything on the other side. It was as dead as a graveyard.

Nodding my head to Peter, I slid the card through the slot. The mechanical buzz singled the lock disengaging from the door. Everything was pristine white, except for the grey carpets and black computer screens. At the far left of the room, there was an elevator door.

I stood on my toes to see if there were any people inside their cubicles but found none. I wondered how many of the people that occupied these desks during the day knew about the horrors beneath their feet? Did they know what Biotech was doing? I would have run in the other direction if it was me. There was only a soft glow from some of the lamps on the desk but most of the lights in this room were out.

"We need to find a fire alarm," I whispered to Peter.

I knew the room was empty but I was still being careful. Peter nodded his head once and started examining the right side of the office while I went left. After searching for a while and finding nothing, I found Peter leaning against a cubicle looking at the roof.

"Found anything?" I asked.

"Nothing, but look up there," Peter said pointing to the ceiling.

Attached to the ceiling, next to the lights were sprinklers in three rows.

Peter flipped a lighter from his pocket, "I take it whoever works at desk twelve B is a smoker, I say we improvise."

"You want to set this place on fire? Are you insane, Syd is still in here!"

"First of all, don't get your panties in a knot, there are sprinklers so it should be an isolated fire. And secondly, I think this situation calls for a little bit of crazy."

I looked at him in disbelief and he just shrugged his shoulders. Turning around he grabbed a dustbin from under one of the desks. Peter started dumping paper from the desk into the dustbin and I decided to chuck my rational thought out the window and help him. He was right, if nothing else could save us maybe a little crazy could.

After it was full Peter used the lighter to ignite a single paper. The flames rapidly consumed the page. When he seemed satisfied, Peter dropped it into the dustbin and the small fire grew.

Peter hopped onto a desk "Quick pass me the waste-bin."

I carefully lifted it off the ground handing it to Peter. He held it close to one of the sprinklers and within seconds they burst open letting out a monsoon of water. A few seconds later an alarm started wailing. We took this as our queue to leave, preferably very fast. We ran to the door at the other end of the office making our way to yet another sterile looking hallway.

"Hey! You two stop!" a man yelled.

Peter and I swiveled around to see a burly man with a black beard, he had a blue hat on with 'security' written in neat white print. My gaze moved to his hand which was closed around the holster stuck to his side.

Gun.

As my brain registered the word my nervous system decided now would be a perfect time to shut down.

Peter grabbed a hold of my jacket and hissed into my ears, "Move!"

He practically dragged me along with him around a corner and I could hear the man's boots thunder after us in pursuit. Peter stopped in front of an elevator and pushed the button a few times. Luckily for us, the large man that was chasing us seemed to be very slow. I assumed his size was more for intimidation than practicality.

Just as the man rounded the corner the elevator door dinged and slid open. Peter slingshot me into the elevator and I crashed against the wall, after that he hopped in and pressed the buttons furiously. Human hulk was closing in on us just as the doors closed.

I breathed a sigh of relief while Peter taped a button labeled parking, "Why are we going to the parking bay? It's underground?"

"Cars equals exit." He simply stated.

My brain was frozen, only now did I register the wailing of the alarm still going insane.

"You're right we need to get out and find a place to wait for Syd."

Minutes later the elevator dinged again signaling our descent has come to a stop. There weren't a lot of cars and I guessed that most of the people in the building had gone home or was evacuated by our false alarm. Peter walked to a white control room, it looked like a box inside the building. He jiggled the lock and then proceeded to kick the door in.

"Does everything have to result in violence with you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Gets the job done, doesn't it?"

He didn't wait for a response and went inside, I waited for a few seconds before he called me.

"Noah, get in here."

I rushed inside to see Peter holding a white lock-box.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I think it's car keys," he said shaking the box.

I heard the jingling sound and just prayed it wasn't another surprise.

"How do we open it, and please don't we smash it! You are not the incredible hulk."

Peter rolled his eyes, "We don't need to, you have the pass."

He turned the box around and sure enough, there was a slide for a key-card. Peter grabbed the card from me as soon as I slid it out of my pocket. When he opened the box there was only one set of keys and a remote attached to it.

Peter dangled the keys in front of me, "Why thank you, Dr. Freeman, don't mind if we do."

We both laughed like maniacs for a little and then dashed out. The parking lot was almost empty except for three cars. One was a sedan parked at the far back, to our left there was a black SUV with a slight dent in the bull bar. I assumed it was the one who rammed me off the road. The last one was an unassuming white truck. It looked like an ice cream truck, but naked.

"Are you ready to find out which car you've won good sir?" Peter asked as if he was a game show host.

Laughing, I nodded my head. I was silently hoping that the key we had unlocked the monster SUV, it seemed only fair. Peter pressed the key and the naked ice cream truck's lights flashed. I squealed like a little girl as if I had just seen the world's ugliest spider.

"Really?"

"Dude, they ruined my truck!"

Peter chuckled, "Think about it this way, its already an upgrade."

I guffawed and Peter snickered. He walked to the ugly truck and jumped in.

"Come on, let's get out of here"

I got in and Peter sped out of the building. We drove out and swiped the card at the security gate. Once we finally made it outside it was already dark. We were smack dab in the middle of the woods. The grey structure was ominous against the backdrop of the forest. There were little to no lights outside making it even more creepy. My skin crawled just looking at it. There was fencing all around the building weaving in between the trees. Peter made his way between two trees and switched off the ignition. Now, all we had to do was wait for Syd.

"So, what's going on between you and Sydney?"

I frowned and slowly turned my head towards Peter, "Nothing..."

"Oh, don't bullshit me, what's going on. A few days ago you guys were still making googly eyes and today you could barely even talk to each other."

"When did you notice this? Was that before or after Syd kicked your ass?"

"Ha Ha, very funny,"

I didn't have time to retort, Peter suddenly sat up and pointed at the building. Black plumes of smoke rolled into the sky from the building. I strained my ears and realized the alarm was still blaring, but this one sounded different and more frantic than before. My throat closed up and I searched the darkness for any sign of Sydney. If she didn't come out I was going to look for her.